"New Year’s Day marks the first day, the first month, the beginning of the year, and the start of spring. A person who celebrates this day will accumulate virtue and be loved by all, just as the moon becomes full gradually, moving from west to east, and as the sun shines more brightly, traveling from east to west."
(The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin vol. 1, p.1137)
The golden year [of 2014],
opening the way to a bright future, has begun!
Now is the time to expand the great solidarity of youthful, capable individuals.
Together, let's commence a grand march of hope!
opening the way to a bright future, has begun!
Now is the time to expand the great solidarity of youthful, capable individuals.
Together, let's commence a grand march of hope!
-Daisaku Ikeda
On this day I am so grateful to all of you.
What a joy to be at the forefront of World Peace with you! What a joy to be changing our karma together, and changing the world together.
We have all arisen as Bodhisattvas of the Earth. We have chosen our various problems to transform in this lifetime so we can encourage others. And we are doing it together in our precious Soka Gakkai organization with our fellow members. (If you are not yet connected to the SGI use the link to the right, or email me and I can help you - new friends, wonderful experience and deepened faith await you in the SGI!)
We can make the impossible possible through this practice. We can go from friend-less to friend-FULL, we can raise our life from sorrow and hopelessness to one of joy and determination. We can eliminate depression, lose weight, become happier, younger and we can find true love. The possibilities are endless. We can become happy and chant for all who are suffering. So many people are looking for what we have...let's shine and share and lead our friends to chant with us!
Can there be any better joy?
On this day I encourage you to chant for what you really want. Please chant for what you want.
Last night I answered emails...and many of them said "I want this_______but feel I can't chant for it for various reasons."
In my experience the best thing is to chant for what we really want. Chanting with passion will lead us to even greater happiness...even if we feel we shouldn't desire something, or we are not worthy of it, or someone has told us not to chant for it.
Somehow the Nam-myoho-renge-kyo we resonate will lead us to the truest and best desires for our life. And we can start right where we are...with our desires right now.
The Mystic Law is, well, MYSTIC! We ARE nam-myoho-renge-kyo. We ARE the Gohonzon! When we chant we are dialoguing with our own life. We are telling our life what we want. Think "LIFE this is what I want!" while chanting. Not "Oh please?" We are not beggars - we are the Buddha!
Chanting will work no matter what you are chanting for, so we don't have to worry. My dear friend Amos started chanting to prove to his wife that chanting didn't work. He thought she was wasting her time. He is still chanting and inspiring people more than 40 years later. The Mystic Law is a Law! It works. People have chanted for all sorts of "wrong" things and that chanting has "righted" their lives. Of course life is cause and effect so we never chant that harm should come to anyone ~ that just makes sense, right?
So on this auspicious day of the New Year, and the New Moon we can pour our prayer into what we really want. Our dialogue is with our life itself. What do we want? What do we really want?
Last night I was home, answering emails with one of the live shows ringing in the new year on in the background. All night there was the twitter feed running at the bottom of the TV screen. People were tweeting messages of hope and love and peace for the New Year.
Kosen-rufu! World Peace! A world of respect for all of life! It is happening and we are ushering it in! We are literally chanting a higher vibration to this planet. We are noble votaries of the Lotus Sutra! We chant for our benefits in the name of benefits for all. "I must overcome this__________so that I can show to others the power of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and encourage others to chant!"
It is an HONOR to be Setting Sail into a New Era of Worldwide Kosen-Rufu with you ~ my dear friends!
Write me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com with your victories to share, and your questions. (I never share anything without your permission.)
Happy New Year!
